Method and apparatus for determining proportions in compounds and mixtures.



L. TAYLOR. METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING PROPORTION S INCOMPOUNDS AND MIXTURES.

v APPLICATION FILED SEPT.11, 190B. 94%,21

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Patented Nov. 16. 1909.

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A L. TAYLOR. METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING PROPORTIONS INCOMPOUNDS AND MIXTURES.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 11 190B.

Patented Nov. 16. 1909.

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A m A mmmm L. TAYLOR. METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING PROPORTIONSIN COMPOUNDS AND MIXTURES.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 11, 1908.

Patented NOV. 16, 1909.

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METHGD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING PROPORTIONS IN COMPOUNDS ANDMIXTURES.

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To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LowNDns TAYLOR, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Swartlnnore, county of Delaware, State of Pennsylvania,have invented an Improvement in Methods and Apparatus for DeterminingProportions in Compounds and Mixtures, of which the following is aspecification.

More particularly my invention relates to a method of determining therelative proportions of substances to be mixed or compounded to producea given ratio between the characteristics of such substances, and toapparatus adapted for practicing such method. For example; supposing itbe desired to determine a certain balanced ration, c. a ration in whichthe characteristics, whether physiological, mechanical or economic,will. bear a certain ratio to one another, my method is designed todetermine the relative proportions of the several ingredients whichshall be taken or combined to produce such ratio. Supposing it bedesired to produce a ration of bread, meat and potatoes having a certainratio between the tats, 'carbo-hydrates and proteinthose beingcharacteristics-my method is designed to cetermine the relativeproportions of bread, meat and potatoes which shall be taken to )roducethat ratio of those characteristics. Not only may the proportions of theingredients be determined for any ratio of such physiologicalcharacteristics as those mentioned, but also for such characteristics asweight, bulk, cost, woody waste, total of calories, and chemicalconstituents; in fact any characteristic of the ingredients of theration may be included and the proportions of the ingredients may bedetermined to produce any desired ratio between such characteristic andany number of other characteristics of the ingredients.

Broadly stated the method consists essentially in simultaneouslydisplacing a fluid, or its equivalent, in separate volumes proportionalto the ratio of the chosen characteristics of each ingredient,collecting together the displaced volumes representing the same cha"acteristic of all the ingredients, and repeating the first operationfor the differein ingredients until there is established between thecollected volumes of fluid the desired ratio of the characteristicsrepresented by such collected volumes of fluid.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed. September 11, 1908.

Patented Nov. re, race.

Serial No. 452,556.

With the particular form of apparatus which is shown in the drawings,water, contamed 111 a series of separate receptacles or cylinders, isdisplaced by plungers ot' diameters proportional to the ratio of theseveral characteristics which they and their cylinders represent. Itfollows that the volumes oi water displaced by the depression of theseplungers will be proportional to the ratios of the characteristics.There is a separate set oft these cylinders and plungers for eachingredient, so that the depression of each set of plungers will displacea series of separate volumes of Water proportional to the diameters ofthe plungers and consequently to the ratio of the characteristics, theseparate volumes displaced by the corresponding plungers tor thedifferent ingredients and consequently representing the same characteristic flow into the same receptacle or receiver; and consequentlyeach receptacle or receiver contains only the displaced volumesrepresenting one characteristic. The onbical contents of thesereceptacles are made proportional to the ratio which is to beestablished between the characteristics. The separate sets of plungersrepresenting the different ingredients are depressed until, byexperiment, the same level of water is estab lished in the set ofreceptacles or receivers representing the characteristics. The desiredratio has then been reached and the relative proportions of theingredients required to establish that ratio is indicated by therelative extent of the movements of the diilerent sets of plungers. Asthe plungers in each set are connected together by a bar the ratio ofthese movements for the different sets may be readily determined by thepositions of the respective bars.

While I show and describe the displace ment of water in volumesproportional to the ratio of the chosen characteristics by the immersiontherein of plungers of proper diameter, my invention is not limited tosuch displacement of water, but may be applied to other fluids, or theequivalent thereof, such as tine shot or sand, and it is to beunderstood that where I use the term fluid in the claims I mean toinclude such equivalents. It is sufiicient for the method that thereshall be simultaneously displaced or discharged separate volumes of suchfluid, or its equivalent, proportional to the ratio of the chosencharacteristics in each ingrethis For 1114: 0211131 :1

For

015 0'1 plungers 'esent 1111 .1

stics 111 will volumes of SH 7 1 1 Q1 3.1 NO

that the displaced the same. 01101- (1101117, and 0391111115 [he p1 area a "1 Z? 1 1 cyhnde 0 greCi 1'11 60 cuptucks produce that ratio will beindicated by the relative extent of movement of the bars 0 of thedifferent sets of plunger-s is &c, m &c and n &c. This proportion may betaken either in bulk or weight, but it is usually better to consider theproportions by weightand to treat the bulk as a characteristic which maybe represented by proper plungers and cylinders and included in theratio of characteristics. To enable this ratio between the volumescollected in the several receivers to be easily established I prefer toemploy receivers of like initial cubical capacity and to establish thedesired ratio by reducing the cubical contents of the several receiversby the introduction of suitable capacity reducers, so that the desiredratio will be established when the water in the receivers is at the samelevel.

As shown in the drawings each of the receivers is provided with a sightor gage tube 9 communicating with the receiver at the bottom. Thecubical contents of any cylindrical receiver is represented by theformula in which m equals the radius of the cylindrical reducer which isintroduced. The dimensions of the cylindrical reducers, or the value of:0, is determined from the following formula;

R 7th r ah ah,

in which 10 represents any fractional part. Therefore, for the sameheight or value of h,

If for example, R 5 inches and r -.5 inches and to be taken at 1O, :0will equal 1.589 inches, that is to say a cylindrical reducer of thatdiameter introduced into a receiver of 5 inches in diameter having asight tube of inches will reduce its cubical contents one-tenth. Otherreducers may in like manner be prepared for hundredths, thousandths andother fractional parts. Having then a series of such reducers as, 3 z, 2the cubical contents of the receivers f f f &c. may be brought into anydesired ratio by the introduction of the proper reducers as shown inFigs. 5 and 6. It follows therefore that when the level of the water, asshown by the gage tubes is the same in the receivers, the desired ratiowill be established. For

convenience the outlets s from the receivers may be openedsimultaneously to discharge the contents by means of valves controlledby a common lever or bar 2?.

For simplicity of illustration and description I have shown only threesets of plungers and associated cylinders and only four plunger-s andcylinders in each set, it is to be understood however, that any numberof sets may be employed according to the number of ingredients orsubstances to be taken, with any number of plungers and cylinders ineach set according to the number of char acteristics to be considered.In my description I have supposed the ration to be made up of meat,bread and potatoes only and have considered only the cha 'acteristics offat, carbohydrates and protein, but obviously other substances such asmilk, eggs, oatmeal and green vegetables might have been added to theration and other characteristics such as the woody waste, starch andsugar might have been considered.

hen any of the characteristics under consideration is'lacking from anyingredient or substance, the corresponding plunger from the setrepresenting such ingredient is omitted. The corresponding cylinder mayalso be omitted, but I prefer to employ the full number of cylinders oneach set, as itenables the apparatus to be adapted to changes iningredients and characteristics by simply changing the plungers.

Suitable graduated scales and pointers may be arranged for indicatingvisually the extent of the relative movement of the bars 0 and also fortranslating such relative movement into percentages, but such devicesform no part of the present invention they are not shown.

In Figs. 812 I have shown a form of apparatus adapted to use sand orfine shot instead of water. A A A B B B and C C G are sets ofcharacteristic cylinders or holders corresponding to the sets ofcylinders a a (E, Z) Z) 6 and c r" c of the apparatus shown in Figs. 1l. Each of these holders is open at the top and front, and adjacent tothe open front and movable on suitable guides is a chute open at the topand provided at the bottom with a tube D. K K I are the chutes for theholders A &c., M M M those for the holders B &c., and N N N those forthe holders C 8:0. These chutes correspond with the movable plungers 7t-71; &c., m m, &c. and n n 81c.

F F F are receptacles corresponding to the receptacles f, f forreceiving the volumes discharged from the holders representing the samecharacteristic in the ditlerent sets of holders.

E E E are discharge tubes each extending under a row of holdersrepresenting the same characteristic in the sets of holders anddischarging respectively into the receptacles representing one of theingredients of the compound, discharge tubes or conduits connectingtogether the outlets of corresponding vessels in the different sets, aseries of separate receivers, each communicating with one of saiddischarge tubes or conduits, and a series of independently operated setsof discharging devices for discharging volumes of liquid from saidvessels, the devices in each set being arranged to discharge from thecorresponding set of vessels din erent volumes proportional to the ratioof the characteristics in the ingredient represented by such set ofvessels and discharging devices.

7. In apparatus for the purpose described, the combination of a seriesof sets of vessels adapted to contain liquid, each set of vesselsrepresenting one of the ingredients of the compound, discharge tubes orconduits connecting together the outlets of corresponding vessels in thedifferent sets, a series of separate receivers, each communicating withone of said discharge tubes or conduits, and a series of independentlyoperated sets of plungers, the plungers of each set being adapted toenter the vessels of one set, and the plungers in each set being ofvarying diameter proportional to the ratio of the characteristics of theingredient represented by said set of plungers and vessels.

8. In apparatus for the purpose described, the combination of series ofsets of vessels adapted to contain liquid, each set of vesselsrepresenting one of the ingredients of the compound, a series ofindependently operated sets of discharging devices for dischargingvolumes of liquid from said vessels, the devices in each set beingarranged to discharge iirom the corresponding set of vessels volumesproportional to the ratio of the characteristics in the ingredientrepresented by such set of vessels, a series of receivers, means forseparately collecting the volumes discharged from the vesselsrepresenting the same characteristic in the different sets anddischarging each of such collected volumes into one of the receivers,and means for varying at Will the cubical contents of said receivers.

9. In apparatus for the purpose described, the combination of a seriesof sets of vessels adapted to contain liquid, each set of vesselsrepresenting one of the ingredients of the compound, a series ofindependently operated sets of discharging devices for dischargingvolumes of liquid from said vessels, the devices in each set beingarranged to discharge from the corresponding set of vessels volumesproportional to the ratio of the characteristics in the ingredientrepresented by such set of vessels, a series of receivers, means forseparately collecting the volumes discharged from the vesselsrepresenting the same characteristic in the diflferent sets anddischarging each of such collected volumes into one of the receivers,and means for varying at Will the cubical contents of said receiverconsisting of separate cylindrical reducers of different diametersadapted to be introduced in said receivers.

10. In apparatus for the purpose described, the combination of a seriesof sets of vessels adapted to contain liquid, each set of vesselsrepresenting one of the ingredients of the compound, discharge tubes orconduits connecting together the outlets of corresponding vessels in thedifferent rows, a series of separate receivers, each communicating withone of said discharge tubes or conduits, a series of independentlyoperated sets of plungers, the plungers of each set being adapted toenter the vessels oi one set, and the plun gers in each set being ofvarying diameter proportional to the ratio of the characteristics of theingredient represented by said set of plungers and vessels, and meansfor varying at Will the cubical contents of said receivers.

11. In apparatus for the purpose described, the combination of a seriesof sets of vessels adapted to contain liquid, each set of Vesselsrepresenting one of the ingredients of the compound, discharge tubes orconduits connecting together the outlets of corresponding vessels in thedifferent sets, a series of separate receivers, each communicating Withone of said discharge tubes or conduits, a series of independentlyoperated sets of plungers, the plungers of each set being adapted toenter the vessels of one set, and the plungers in each set being ofvarying diameter proportional to the ratio of the characteristics of theingredient represented by said set of plungers and vessels, and meansfor independently operating each of said sets of plungers.

12. In apparatus for the purpose described, the combination of a seriesof sets of vessels adapted to contain liquid, each set of vesselsrepresenting one of the ingredients of the compound, discharge tubes orconduits con necting together the outlets of corresponding vessels inthe different sets, a series of sepa rate receivers, each communicatingWith one of said discharge tubes or conduits, a series of independentlyoperated sets of plungers, the plungers of each set being adapted toenter the vessels of one set, and the plungers in each set being ofvarying diameter proportional to the ratio of the characteristics of theingredient represented by said set of plungers and vessels, anda-separate and in-. dependently movable bar carrying each set ofplungers.

In testimony of Which invention, I have hereunto set my hand.

LOWNDES TAYLOR.

WVitnesses ERNEST HOWARD HUNTER, R. M. KELLY.

